


A Meeting, A Reunion, and A Homecoming

by Toomanyfandoms99



Category: Supernatural
Genre: F/F, M/M, Speculation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-18
Updated: 2018-10-18
Packaged: 2019-08-03 18:47:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16331534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toomanyfandoms99/pseuds/Toomanyfandoms99
Summary: Castiel was becoming increasingly irrational the longer Dean was gone.Sam wasn’t blind.  He knew that the love his older brother had for Cas was buried deep in years of denial.  That fact didn’t make it any less obvious, or true.But the longer Dean was possessed by Michael, the more unhinged the usually clear-headed Cas became.  It was starting to become a problem.





	A Meeting, A Reunion, and A Homecoming

**Author's Note:**

> Enjoy!

I. A Meeting

Castiel was becoming increasingly irrational the longer Dean was gone.

Sam wasn’t blind. He knew that the love his older brother had for Cas was buried deep in years of denial. That fact didn’t make it any less obvious, or true.

But the longer Dean was possessed by Michael, the more unhinged the usually clear-headed Cas became. It was starting to become a problem.

A call from Jody for help on a simple ghost case was as good an opportunity as any for a change of scenery. Sam successfully convinced Cas to remove the tarp from his shitty tan truck — neither were mentally strong enough to unearth the Impala from the bunker garage’s confines — and drive them to Sioux Falls for a breather.

They couldn’t spend all their time searching for Michael if he didn’t want to be found. They both needed to clear their minds and focus on something simple.

Sam and Cas rolled up to Jody’s house. As Cas pulled the key out of the ignition, Sam caught a blurry figure opening the door and running towards them excitedly.

Claire.

Castiel frowned and got out of the car first, Sam following suit. A mass of blonde-pink curls and dark clothing halted a foot away from Cas, her bright grin a little uncertain. Making a snap decision, Claire tossed her arms around Cas’s neck, exclaiming, “Cas!”

Lacklusterly, Castiel hugged back, melting into her tight embrace. Sam knew he needed a hug desperately.

Cas lifted her in midair, supporting her weight for a few beats. “Hey,” he murmured, his tone taking on the depressed cadence Sam had grown accustomed to throughout the past few weeks.

Claire frowned, pulling away and regaining her footing. Her big blue eyes were filled with concern, her dark makeup especially unnatural in the sunlight. “What’s the matter, Cas? Where’s Dean?”

Castiel was silent, his lips forming into a thin line.

Claire turned to Sam for an answer. Sam cleared his throat and said roughly, “it’s best if we all go inside.”

Claire’s entire body slumped, her expression falling. She worried her bottom lip, her skin paler all of a sudden. She whirled around and started walking, Sam catching Jody’s expression where she lingered by the front door.

Jody had never met Castiel. Introductions were clearly in order.

Cas followed a step behind Claire, Sam catching up with them in a long stride.

Jody held open the screen door, examining Castiel critically, as if trying to decipher him, see behind his melancholy mask and pale blue eyes. “I don’t believe we’ve met.”

Claire ducked under Jody’s outstretched arm, clearly not wanting to be a part of this conversation.

Sam said, “this is Castiel. We’ve mentioned him before.”

Jody’s eyes widened in recognition at the name.

Sam knew she was thinking about the little side smiles Dean would hide whenever Cas’s name was brought up. Thinking about the way Dean batted his eyelashes and his cheeks tinged a red-pink. Thinking about Dean’s loud throat clears as he stuttered a conversation changer and fought back his automatic flustered response.

Jody met Sam’s eyes. He nodded in confirmation.

Yes, his stupid brother loves this man, this rebellious Angel of the Lord. Jody was all caught up.

Castiel didn’t seem to notice the quick glance. He offered a hand and said gruffly, “you must be Jody. You’re a sheriff, correct?”

Jody shook his hand, concealing her shock at the naturally thunderous tone of Cas’s voice. Usually thunderous voices were loud, but his was like a crack of lightning, there and gone in a flash.

Jody replied warily, “I am.”

Castiel, still looking awfully somber, said dryly, “I should formally apologize for whatever Dean and Sam did to get you into their messes. I can relate.”

Sam smothered a chuckle with his hand. Cas blinked up at him confusedly, taking a beat to realize the unknowing joke he had made.

Castiel shrugged it off and saw Jody wear an amused half-smile. She played along. “They are quite a hurricane, aren’t they?”

Cas squinted his eyes and did a tiny nod in agreement, glancing at his shoes in an uncharacteristically sheepish gesture.

Jody took this opportunity to smile knowingly at Sam. Yes, Cas loves Dean back. Yes, they’re both boneheaded idiots. They were on the same page.

Jody said, “come on in, boys.”

————

Once the ghosts were salted and burned, Claire brought it up again.

“You never told me where Dean is,” Claire said pointedly.

She had bugged Sam and Cas for the entire hours-long hunt, but they both used the opportunity to remain mum on the topic.

No getting around it now.

Over dinner, — Castiel surprisingly eating his molecules sans a remark about not requiring food — Sam told Jody and Claire everything. How Michael possessed Dean, how they had been looking for him for weeks to no avail, how they had come to do this case for a reprieve. Cas was silent throughout Sam’s brief overview, focusing on his food far too intensely, even for him.

Jody and Claire were quiet for a long moment once Sam finished. 

To break the silence, Cas said, without looking away from his plate, “clearly, Dean thinks himself a hero.”

That seemed to cut the heavy tension, Sam surprised to hear little chuckles emit from Jody and Claire’s mouths. 

Sam reacted the opposite way, contemplating the double meaning behind his best friend’s words. Cas’s tone had a cynical edge to it, as if he was thinking of tacking on “the idiot” to the end of his sentence but changed his mind abruptly. 

A realization hit Sam like a whiplash: Castiel wanted Dean to be selfish. He wanted Dean to think about Cas’s feelings before doing something stupid — like getting himself possessed, for instance. He wanted Dean to cast the world’s desires aside, take a step back, and understand their mutual feelings for each other.

Not only was Castiel aware of his predicament with Sam’s older brother, but he wanted a romantic relationship with Dean. And Cas thought he would never get one. Not in a million years.

Sam wanted to throw his brother off a cliff. He wanted to lock Dean in a closet until he got out of his mental one. He wanted to smack his brother upside the head, shake him, and scream at him to kiss Castiel, god fucking dammit!

Sam pushed himself out of his spiraling thoughts and realized that the table was observing him concernedly. He cleared his throat and made a nonchalant excuse about being stuck in his head for a moment. He was fine.

————

II. A Reunion

Claire pursed her lips at the sight she received upon entering the living room.

Castiel sat unmoving on Jody’s couch, his white dress shirt crinkling, his slacks wrinkled, his noose of a tie loosened from his neck. His fingers were steepled together and resting on his knees, his head bowed as he stared at his hands. Sadness rolled off of him in waves, and Claire plopped next to him without truly thinking it through.

Startled, Cas looked to his side, the jump of liveliness in his irises retreating back into their pale gray depths once he recognized it was only Claire. Cas exhaled deeply, tiredly. He said warily, “hello, Claire.”

“I know what you’re going through,” Claire blurted out. She barely registered Cas’s curiosity before she said, “that connection you have with Dean...I had it with someone too. Her name was Kaia. Kaia Nieves.” Claire swallowed a lump in her throat. “I hardly knew her, but...we had a connection. It was so strong. So powerful. I was mesmerized by her.” Claire blinked rapidly. She would not cry. She was sick of crying. “I promised I would protect her. I couldn’t. She died in front of me.” Cas looked ready to comment, but Claire continued, “she’s dead, but I feel...I feel like she isn’t. I feel like...I would know. I would know if she was dead. I would feel it.” Claire put a hand over to heart to articulate what her words couldn’t. “Everyone tells me she’s dead, but I don’t think she is. I think she’s out there, and she’ll come back to me. Don’t you and Dean have that? This connection between you that can’t be broken?”

As if under a spell, Cas nodded in affirmation.

Claire was glad to get a sign of some kind that he was listening and understanding her. “We’re on the same boat here. While I wait for Kaia to return to me, I want you to promise me something.” She held out a pinky finger, Cas blinking in surprise at the childish gesture. “Promise me,” Claire emphasized, “that when you get Dean back, you’ll tell him how you feel.”

Castiel swallowed thickly, hesitating. “I don’t know if he-”

“He does,” Claire said assuredly. “Oh, he totally fucking does.”

“Language, Claire.”

Claire raised an eyebrow. “I’m serious. Every time your name’s been brought up and you’re not here, Dean honest-to-God blushes.”

Castiel was affronted. “Really?”

“Yes, really,” Claire said, swatting Cas’s arm playfully. “You’re both so obvious!”

Still skeptical, Cas asked with narrowed eyes, “are you sure you’re not mistaken?”

Claire laughed incredulously. “No, Cas!”

Castiel huffed, the information clearly absorbing into his skull. Whether he understood what to do with it or not, Claire didn’t know. She was fine with planting the information there and watching it grow.

Cas asked suddenly, “would you be okay with this? If...something were to come of this?”

He spoke that final question like it was a secret, like it was a curse, like it was a mistake to even imagine such an option.

Claire said honestly, “I want you to be happy. I’m okay with it.”

“I want that for you too,” Castiel said genuinely. Taking the initiative, Cas closed a hand atop Claire’s in a comforting hold. He squeezed and released, a side smile reaching his lips. “I’ll pinky promise.”

Claire giggled and held out her finger. They locked pinkies.

————

III. A Homecoming

When they got Dean back, Dean wouldn’t talk to anyone.

He remained ghostly and silent for days, only speaking if he absolutely had to. He walked with a shock blanket around his shoulders like a cape, his skin pale and softball bruises marring his handsome face.

Sam, Castiel, Mary, and Jack all kept their distance, figuring that Dean needed time to sort himself out.

It became clear once the first week went into the second that Dean needed outside help.

Castiel knocked on Dean’s bedroom door softly, hearing Dean clear his throat. Cas took this as an invitation to enter.

He did so quietly and with slow movements, as if Dean were a cat that could be easily spooked. Castiel took in the image of Dean sitting crisscrossed on his freshly-made bedspread — an indication that Dean hadn’t slept in approximately three days. Dean’s bruises on his face were a sickly green pallor, the pinch of tan left in his cheeks mingling with the palette — Cas was surprised that Dean somehow managed to look handsome this way. Dean wore a trademark blue-and-white flannel thrown hastily over a gray tee. Baggy sweatpants and haphazard hair and a growing beard and tired eyes were outward indicators of Dean’s state of mind.

Castiel closed the door, noticing Dean blink as if just registering Cas’s presence. Alone. With him. In his bedroom.

Cas cleared his throat and lingered awkwardly near the shut door, unsure of what to do or where he stood with Dean. He asked softly, so as not to startle Dean, “may I sit?”

Dean nodded dumbly, blinking again. Cas’s weight dipped the mattress as he sat on the precipice of Dean’s bed.

They hadn’t been this close in a very long time.

Castiel half-expected Dean to curl in on himself and get as far away from him as possible. It was in Dean’s nature, encoded into his DNA as his most common response to people invading his personal space.

Dean didn’t. He scooted closer.

Castiel’s heart nearly stopped. Claire was right. Sam was right. Jack was right. Mary was right. Jody was right. They were all right.

Castiel was blind.

All this time…

Dean’s eyes seemed to regain some of their light, turning from a misty green to bright emeralds. His voice was hoarse when he spoke. “Is this what it felt like for you?”

Cas’s blood ran cold at the vague mention of Naomi. The way that Michael hurt Dean can’t be that bad.

Could it?

Cas nodded in affirmation. Dean swallowed thickly at a sudden bout of emotion, tears welling in his eyes. “Does it go away?”

Castiel stared downward at Dean’s bedspread. “It gets...muted. You think about it less and less.”

Dean sighed deeply. There was a contemplative silence for a long moment.

Once the air settled, Dean sucked in a breath. On his exhale, he said, “it was you, you know.”

Cas held his head up, his gaze meeting Dean’s in confusion.

Dean clarified, “that kept me sane.” A beat. “It was your grace.”

Castiel swallowed. The implications of this conversation were getting to be too much. He shouldn’t have pinky promised Claire. He couldn’t handle this.

As if acting on pure confidence, Dean took Cas’s hand.

Castiel’s cheeks heated up exponentially fast.

Dean’s touch was warm. Cas thought it would be ice cold.

Castiel responded on instinct, turning his hand over and allowing their fingers to lace together.

He looked up at Dean, his eyes wide and his lips parted in a mixture of shock and amazement.

This was the confirmation Dean needed. That Castiel needed. That they both needed.

Dean leaned forward slowly, Castiel meeting him in the middle.

Dean’s lips were silky, soft, sweet. Everything Castiel wanted and more. Dean’s unoccupied hand reached up, his fingers brushing Cas’s stubble and settling on his jawline. Cas pulled himself closer, deepening their kiss with every passing second. He started to feel lightheaded, but he loved the dizziness. He loved being short of breath. He loved the feel of Dean’s lips on his.

Dean must have been thinking along the same lines, because when he needed to breathe, he dived back in again. 

After another moment, it became too much to bear. Dean pulled away on a deep exhale, his breath noticeably shaky. Dean’s eyelashes fluttered open, revealing a spark of green. His lips were swollen pink, color had returned to his cheeks, and he looked utterly debauched.

All from kissing.

Dean took a steadying breath, the makings of a smile reaching his lips. Castiel found himself responding with a smile of his own.

Eyes sparkling, Dean asked breathily, “why haven’t I done that before?”

Castiel replied dryly, “because you’re an idiot, Dean Winchester.”

The normalcy of that answer had Dean grinning like the lovestruck fool he was. “Not anymore, Cas.” Dean moved forward again, resting their foreheads together in an incredibly intimate gesture. “Not anymore.”

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are appreciated!


End file.
